The present invention relates to a spinning machine, especially an open-end spinning machine which has a plurality of spinning units, each of which has a plurality of elements to be controlled electrically. A maintenance device is movable along the machine which can be coupled electrically to the elements to be controlled of the particular spinning units located in its working range.
A known device of this type either can be removed from the machine and attached to the machine again on the desired spinning unit or can be displaced on rails along the machine. The device is electrically connected at the desired spinning unit by means of a plug to the elements to be controlled (German Auslegeschrift No. 2,351,458). This device has to be brought by hand to the spinning unit to be maintained and also works by manual control. Furthermore, this device is also very complicated to handle because of the electrical connection to be made in each case by means of the plug and to be broken again subsequently.
Fully automatic maintenance devices are also known, and these travel along the machine and detect a thread sensor which has fallen off because of a thread break, whereupon the maintenance device stops at the particular spinning unit (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,714,353). The maintenance device possesses one signal receiver and one control transmitter, to which are respectively assigned correspondingly a control transmitter and a signal receiver of the spinning unit. These control connections, which can also be replaced by plug connections, have to be made anew at each spinning unit.